A drum type ice maker is disclosed in Korean Patent Application Laid-Open No. 0178693. The drum type ice maker applies and freezes water on the surface of the drum, and then makes piece ice by cutting the ice layer frozen on the surface of the drum by means of a knife. Since the drum ice maker makes powder ice by directly cutting the ice layer in the ice making drum, the powder ice made by the drum ice maker is softer than the existing particle ice made by splitting ice mass by using a crusher or by cutting the ice mass by using a cutting tool, and has uniform particles, so that high-quality powder ice can be obtained and used for food.
The ice maker freezes water by using a refrigerant. An ice cream maker, a refrigerator and a freezer include an ice making device. The ice making device absorbs vaporization heat while vaporizing the refrigerant in an evaporator. The evaporator is cooled with the loss of the vaporization heat. The refrigerant which has a temperature increased by absorbing the vaporization heat from the evaporator radiates the absorption heat in a condenser, and then turns into a refrigerant liquid. As such, the refrigerant circulates in a cooling cycle in which the refrigerant is compressed by a compressor, is vaporized and injected into the evaporator, and then is liquefied again in the condenser.
Since the refrigerant evaporator of a general ice making device is manufactured in the form of a heat exchange coil, there is no possibility that the refrigerant remains in the evaporator. Meanwhile, in the particle ice maker in which the evaporator is made by means of the ice making drum, the liquefied refrigerant remains and accumulates in the rotating drum.
The refrigerant remaining in the rotating drum interrupts the heat exchange operation of the drum, so that cooling efficiency is reduced and the ice making drum and compressor have a shorter lifespan. This structural condition increases the manufacturing cost of the ice maker and causes a failure.
Also, in the particle ice maker, the refrigerant is injected within the ice making drum and the refrigerant gas is sucked within the ice making drum.
Specifically, in a conventional particle ice maker, a means for circulating the refrigerant in the ice making drum is made in the form of a layered pipe comprised of a first flow path of an outer pipe and a second flow path of an inner pipe which is disposed at the center of the outer pipe. The layered pipe is assembled to the center of a gas block seal tube on a side of the ice making drum. The compressed refrigerant is supplied to the inside of the ice making drum through the first flow path from the external compressor, and the refrigerant gas vaporized in the drum is exhausted to the external condenser through the second flow path. Several holes are formed in the outer wall of the layered pipe located in the ice making drum, and a capillary tube is assembled to each of the holes. Therefore, the refrigerant supplied from the first flow path of the outer pipe is injected to the inner surface of the rotating drum through the capillary tube, and the vaporized refrigerant gas is exhausted to the condenser through the inner pipe. In the refrigerant circulator, since the layered pipe has a complex structure and is vulnerable to failure, for example, flow path blocking, the manufacturing cost and operation cost are increased.
A recent problem is that a material including milk, sugar, juice, etc., is used to make ice, so that it is difficult to maintain the ice maker clean. Especially, the residue of milk, sugar, etc., remaining in the ice maker is apt to be easily decayed in a high temperature humidity environment in summer, and causes highly serious problems.